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There are different types of people out there, and some think it is rather odd to share a list of books read for the year. “Who cares?” However, please know, that among readers, sharing book lists (as well as reading plans for the year to come) is common. I enjoy perusing these lists.

Also, in regards to different folks out there, some are flabbergasted that anyone could or would read so many books. Reading more than about 10 books is considered amazing or odd by some. “Don’t you have anything better to do?” However, among serious readers, my reading of 40 books is a low number actually! Some read 100 or more books a year.

But the number of books read is in one sense a useless figure. I know one serious and prolific reader who does not keep track of the number. The type of books read and their length are factors. For example, while I only read 40 books, two of these books were in the 800 page range, and another was a 3-volume commentary totaling about 1,600 pages. That is 3,200 pages, which could be the equivalent of 16 two-hundred page books!

Here is my list of books, which I hope is accurate. (Sometimes when I review my list for the year, I’ll note a missing book or a book I accidentally recorded twice, etc.)

I link to any that I reviewed or referred to in a blog post. A couple books I still plan to review, and I’ll update the links then.

  1. Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World by Don Richardson
  2. Unbroken, A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
  3. Evidence Not Seen, A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose
  4. Jonah, The Reluctant Prophet by William Banks
  5. The Narcissism Epidemic by Twenge and Campbell
  6. Knowing Christ by Mark Jones
  7. Go Preach, A Primer for Beginning Preachers by John Gilbert
  8. Graceful Evangelism, Christian Witness in a Complex World by Francis Adeney
  9. Paul’s Missionary Methods, In His Time and Ours – Edited by Plummer and Terry
  10. Let the Whole Church say Amen, A Guide for Those who Pray in Public by L. Stookey
  11. Lime Green, Reshaping our View of Women in the Church by Jackie Roese
  12. The Confessions of St. Augustine (intro by John Ryan)
  13. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  14. Paul and Gender, Reclaiming the Apostles Vision for Men and Women in Christ by Cynthia Long Westfall
  15. No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton
  16. The United Methodist Way, Living our Beliefs by Kenneth Carder
  17. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
  18. The Community of God, a Theology of the Church from a Reluctant Pastor by Doug Bursch
  19. The Hand of God, The Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor who Changed his Mind by Bernard Nathanson
  20. The Book of Isaiah (Commentary) Volume 1, Chapters 1-18, by Edward Young
  21. Raised from Obscurity, a Narratival and Theological Study of the Characterization of Women in Luke-Acts by Forbes and Harrower
  22. Jesus, The Life and Ministry of God the Son, Collected Insights from A.W. Tozer
  23. The Word of God for the People of God, an Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture by J. Todd Billings
  24. Ryrie’s Practical Guide to Communicating Bible Doctrine by Charles Ryrie
  25. The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven Lawson
  26. Real Christianity, Discerning True Christianity from False Beliefs by William Wilberforce
  27. Who’s Tampering with the Trinity? An Assessment of the Subordination Debate by Millard Erickson
  28. The Book of Isaiah (Commentary) Volume 2, Chapters 19-39, by Edward Young
  29. Each One a Minister, Using God’s Gifts for Ministry by William Carter
  30. God Space, Embracing the Inconvenient Adventure of Intimacy with God by Keri Wyatt Kent
  31. Under the Glacier by Halldor Laxness (translated to English from Icelandic)
  32. Worshiping with United Methodists by Hoyt Hickman
  33. Gender Roles and the People of God, Rethinking What we Were Taught About Men and Women in the Church By Alice Matthew
  34. Israel Matters, Why Christians Must Think Differently About the People and Land by Gerald McDermott
  35. Psalm 23, The Song of a Passionate Heart by David Roper
  36. The Pearl of Psalms (Psalm 23) by George Henderson
  37. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark
  38. The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators edited by Robinson and Larson
  39. The Book of Isaiah (Commentary) Volume 3, Chapters 40-66, by Edward Young
  40. Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction by Caleb Kaltenbach

If I had to chose 10 for a Top Ten, it would be (in no particular order):

Eternity in Their Hearts (#1)
Evidence Not Seen (#3)
Knowing Christ (#6)
Paul and Gender (#14)
No Man is an Island (#15)
The Hand of God (#19)
Gender Roles (#33)
Israel Matters (#34)
Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell (#37)

Well, that ended up a top 9! I could not decide on a tenth! And top lists can be a bit useless too, as books can be good for different reasons. For example, Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell is a completely different type of book than Knowing Christ!! On that note, I was amused how often Methodists were mentioned, in passing, in Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell. Perhaps a testament to how influential the Methodists were in the 19th century.